Thursday, October 6, 2011

[I hope you enjoyed our first and last Dostoevsky reference] Whenever I see those big piles of rutabagas at the market, I always think to myself, “who the heck is eating all these root vegetables?”

I understand that there’ve been times when we literally had no choice – it was either gnaw on a parsnip or perish, but nowadays with so many other delicious choices, why would anyone eat root vegetables on purpose? Has anyone ever stumbled out of a smoky dorm room late at night, in search of a big plate of steamed turnips? Probably not.

So, while you’ll never catch me boiling up a batch of these fugly roots to enjoy their intoxicating sulphurous savoriness, I have been known to tolerate them in the occasional gratin.

Of course, I cheated and added some potatoes to mellow things out, but still, all kidding aside, this is a very delicious and enjoyable way to eat them, and would make a fantastic side dish for the holidays. And yes, I do know that potatoes are tubers and not roots, so save your emails. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 turnip

1 rutabaga

1 small celery root

2 yukon gold potatotes

1 parsnip

* root vegetable sizes and shapes vary, but bottom line, you’ll need enough to fill a 9 x 13-inch casserole dish up 3/4 of the way

Thanks for the idea Chef John. As much as I love lasagna around this time of year...I'm lasagna'd out. I love your idea for the butter sauce with thyme. Knowing me I would pick something too gummy…like béchamel with sage (dogmatist), and it would sit like a brick. That’s why I cook it your way - always that much better.

In defense of the noble root; one of my family's favorite dishes at our Grandmum's house in Sussex was broiled parsnips in butter, honey, and cardamom with lamb and mint sauce. It was fantastic. Nothing beats the slightly sweet, spicey goodness of parsnips that pairs so well with heavy British meats in winter.

Hi, Love your videos! I was thinking maybe adding a tiny bit of flour to the butter to thicken up the sauce. Just a thought because I would like to try this recipe, going for healthy this winter and this fits the bill:)